If pitching the Mets into the 2000 World Series ever feels like just yesterday to Al Leiter, he has a flesh-and-blood reminder of how much time actually has passed.

Leiter’s son, Jack, was born earlier that year and now is a 23-year-old top pitching prospect trying to earn a promotion to the Texas Rangers.

Saturday was the elder Leiter’s day to be back in the majors one more time as one of four inductees into the Mets’ Hall of Fame during a ceremony before the Mets’ 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays at Citi Field, but Jack was on hand to surprise his father by catching his ceremonial first pitch.

“My last four years with the Mets, any time I had an opportunity to bring him out … either early or after the game and play Wiffle ball or something out on the field,” said Leiter, who was misled into thinking his son couldn’t attend the ceremony because of obligations to his Double-A team. “It started early seeing my son love the game. [His birth] being the year we go to the World Series was even more special.”

Leiter (1998-2004), former third baseman Howard Johnson (1985-93) and broadcasters Gary Cohen (television) and Howie Rose (radio) were honored with commemorative blue jackets and plaques added to the Hall of Fame museum at Citi Field. For Leiter, it is another chapter in a story that began when he was a young Mets fan in Toms River, N.J.

“To eventually get to Queens when I’m 32 years old and get a chance to play seven years for the team that I rooted for as a kid was dream-come-true stuff,” Leiter, 57, said.

“I was a Mets fan at birth. My dad was born in Manhattan, raised on Long Island, loved Casey Stengel and it was the start of the Leiter family. It was all about that.”

Johnson remains one of four players in MLB history with at least three seasons of 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. He was a member of the Mets’ last championship team in 1986.

“The fact that all my family is here to witness this is something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Johnson said. “Being able to interact with the fans in some way is always good. That’s what sets New York apart. My first time walking out to Shea Stadium, it gave you goosebumps.”

Both Johnson (1984 Tigers) and Leiter (1992-93 Blue Jays) won World Series titles elsewhere before coming to the Mets as missing pieces. Leiter’s biggest individual moment was a two-hit shutout in the 1999 National League wild-card tiebreaker game.

“If you are locked in and you like good about what you are doing, it’s exciting,” Leiter said, reflecting on that moment. “Our team was starting to feel the mojo and it was building.”

The emotion of his many big games rushed back to Johnson a bit Saturday.

“There’s probably not a day that goes by that we don’t think about being able to play the game that we did when we were 25 at that level,” Johnson said. “Every time you get out of bed, there’s a reminder that was a long time ago. It’s almost like two different people. The older we get, that person goes further away. I want to know that person who still played.”

The Mets made sure that fans will know the names Leiter and Johnson for decades to come.